ACTIVE SHOOTER
INCIDENTS
The community response
“Within the span of 16 minutes, the
gunman killed 13 people and wounded
21 others. A savage
act of domestic
o
terrorism, their crime is the deadliest
school shooting in the history of the
United States”
Sheriff John P. Stone
Jefferson Co. Colorado
TRAINING OBJECTIVES
 Define the term “active shooter”
 List measures that can be employed to reduce the effectiveness of
an active shooter
 Describe actions that can be expected from responding law
enforcement officers
THE ACTIVE SHOOTER
DEFINED
 A suspect or assailant whose activity is immediately causing death
and serious injury
 Threat is not contained and there is immediate risk of death and
injury
 Considered the greatest terrorist threat on campuses
MENTALITY OF ACTIVE
SHOOTER
 Desire is to kill and seriously injure without concern for his safety
or threat of capture
 The shooter may have intended victims and will search them out
 However, accepts targets of opportunity while searching for or
after finding intended victims
 Will continue to move throughout building/area until stopped by
law enforcement, suicide, or other intervention
PUBLIC SCHOOLS VS. UNK
 Unlike the public school system UNK facilities do not
feature:
• Intercoms in classrooms
• Immediate campus-wide emergency notification system to
initiate Campus Lockdown Procedures
• One centralized administrative office
• Visitor access points
• Similar monitoring and control of students and other people on
campus
• Dense campus facility make-up
UNK
 Features:
• Law enforcement presence and response capability
• Dedicated and concerned community base
• Multiple means for reporting emergencies and alerting the
community to an emergency
• Solidly constructed facilities
• Places of refuge
• Multiple escape routes
YOUR RESPONSE
 Your actions will influence others
• Stay Calm
• Assure others that you and the police are working to protect them
YOUR RESPONSE
Secure the immediate area – whether classroom,
bathroom, or office.
• Lock the door. This may require advanced planning to
ensure ability to lock the door – key and type of lock.
• Most doors in university buildings are solid core, and
some walls are block and brick. This may provide some
protection
• Block the door using whatever is available - desks, file
cabinets, books, other furniture…
• If the shooter enters your room and leaves,
lock/barricade the door behind him
• If safe allow others to seek refuge with you
YOUR RESPONSE
 Treat the injured (if possible)
• Remember basic first aid
• For bleeding apply pressure and elevate
• Be creative in identifying items to use for this purpose - clothing,
paper towels, feminine hygiene products, news papers, etc.
YOUR RESPONSE
 Un-securing an area
 The shooter will not stop until his objectives have been
met, unless engaged by law enforcement
 Consider the risk exposure created by opening the door
 Attempts to rescue people should only be made if that can
be done without further endangering the persons inside a
secured area
 The shooter may bang on the door and yell for help to
entice you to open the door
 Remember the safety of the masses versus the safety of a
few
 If there is any doubt to the safety of the individuals inside
the room, the area needs to remain secured
YOUR RESPONSE
Doors, Windows, Openings, and Noise
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Close blinds
Block windows
Turn off radios and computer monitors if necessary
Silence cell phones
Place signs in exterior windows with the word “HELP”
written on them to identify the location of persons
• Keep occupants calm and quiet
• After securing the room. People should be positioned out
of sight and behind items that might offer additional
protection - walls, desks, file cabinets, etc.
CONTACTING
EMERGENCY
PERSONNEL
 Emergency 911
• 911 may be overwhelmed
627-4811 UNK Police and Parking Services Cell
Phone
865-8517 UNK Police and Parking Services Office
 UNKpd@unk.edu UNK Police and Parking Services email
WHAT TO REPORT
 Your specific location
• Building name
• Office/classroom number
 Number of people at your specific location
 Injuries
• Number of people injured
• Types of injuries
• Dispatcher may provide instructions on how to care for injured
until medical assistance can be provided
WHAT TO REPORT
• Assailant(s)
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Specific location
Number of assailant(s)
Race and Gender
Clothing color and style
Physical features – height, weight, facial hair, glasses
Type of weapons (rifle/shotgun, handgun)
Backpack
Do you recognize the shooter? What’s his name?
Have you heard explosions separate from gunshots?
UNSECURED AREAS
 If you find yourself in an open area, immediately seek protection
 Put something between you and the shooter
 Is escape your best option? Do you know where the shooter is? Is
escape immediately available?
 If in doubt find a safe area and secure it the best way you can
LAW ENFORCEMENT
RESPONSE
Law enforcement will immediately respond to the area
It is important for you to convey to others that help is
on the way. Remain inside the secure area.
Law enforcement’s goal is to locate, contain, and stop
the shooter
The safest place for you to be is inside a secure room
The shooter will not flee when law enforcement enters
the building, instead he will have new targets to shoot
Remember the shooter’s mindset is not escape. His
goal is to kill and injure
LAW ENFORCEMENT
RESPONSE
 Injured persons
• Initial responding officers will not treat the injured or begin
evacuation until the threat is neutralized
• You may need to explain this to others in an attempt to calm
them
• Once the shooter is contained, officers will begin treatment and
evacuation
 Evacuation
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Safety corridors will be established. This may be time consuming
Remain in secure areas until instructed otherwise
You may be instructed to keep your hands on your head
You may be searched
You will be escorted out of the building by law enforcement
personnel
THE INVESTIGATION
 Information will be released to the UNK community and
media as quickly as possible
 The entire area will be treated as a crime scene
 Once you have been evacuated you will not be permitted to
retrieve items or access the crime scene
 After evacuation you will be taken to a holding area for
medical care, interviewing, counseling, etc.
CLOSING STATEMENT
 Historical perspectives of shooters on campuses:
• Spill-over crime – suspect flees onto campus from off-campus incident.
• Workplace violence
• Disgruntled employee or estranged husband/boyfriend
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Middle aged Caucasian man
Poor social skills
Recent personnel Action
Gun collector, hunter
• Early School Shootings
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Student
Misfit
Difficulty coping with losses & failures
Bullied or teased
Vendetta
CLOSING STATEMENT
 We can no longer predict the origin of the next threat
 Assailants in some recent incidents across the country were not
students or employees
 There were no obvious specific targets and the victims were
unaware they were targets, until attacked
DISCUSSION AND
QUESTIONS
 What if…